Veni, Vidi, Scripsi

Honest Gamer Trailers – No Man’s Sky

I hadn’t been paying too much attention to No Man’s Sky. However, a bunch of people seemed to be excited about it before it launched… and upset about it when it was delayed… and have jumped onto the bandwagon such that it is. And while some people are happy, I have also heard a lot of griping about the title

And if that isn’t enough for you, in this past week’s Zero Punctuation Yahtzee takes on the game and comes up with a very similar list of flaws. I mean sure, Yahtzee is hard on every game, it is part of his shtick (Honest Game Trailers as well), but he is also good about bringing up bits he does like about a game, and he didn’t get very far on that front. Plus, both videos seem to echo a some thing I had already heard. Comparisons with Spore and it promise versus what it delivered keep cropping up, which along with the who refund thing, has put a damper on the title for me.

Which is sort of a shame because it seems like a title I might be interested in. I’ll put it on my Steam wish list and see if more has been added to the game by the time the next Steam sale shows up.

Post navigation

7 thoughts on “Honest Gamer Trailers – No Man’s Sky”

I thought the most telling thing about NMS was how one moment almost every blog I was reading was frothing over it and within a week no-one at all was even referring to it any more, not even to complain. I’m very glad I decided to wait to see how it turned out – probably going to wait forever now.

I waited to see how it’d turn out and made the mistake of watching a some LP videos. I got sucked in spite of all the known issues. I’ve got 51 hours in it now and haven’t regretted it yet. It obviously won’t get as much play as many of my other games but so far I’m happy enough with it.

I understand NMS to be a brilliant artistic statement about loneliness, isolation, and alienation. Those feelings are a major buzzkill, though.

I saw one statement that everything in the game is focused on keeping the player moving. It’s why certain things are there, and other things aren’t there. A group of other players would probably stop you moving.

I ended up playing because Phritz was excited about it, and it gave us something to talk about. But I’ve had enough of feeling lonely.

An aside, my favorite comment on the Honest Trailers video comes from a Star Citizen fan boy who suggested that NMS players get a refund and “invest” it in Star Citizen… because no chance of being similarly disappointed with that when it eventually ships!

On one hand, I really don’t like the abuse targeted at the developers. It’s a risky thing to make a game, and it’s better to push boundaries than to create yet another clone. Players cry for innovation, but they realize that innovation means exploration and making a few missteps.

That said, some people are obviously enjoying the hell out of the game. I have a friend who was a bit wary about the game, but he’s several hours in now and having a blast. He thinks part of it is that people are rushing through the game. He’s taking his time exploring the first system. Once you go to other systems, the sameness starts to set in. But, looking at the details in a small section can be refreshing. I kinda wonder if they would have been better off focusing on having a more constrained game with a lot of interesting detail.

I also think the hype train no this game was off the charts. You have a developer whose previous games are nothing impressive, but who lands a spot on late night TV to pimp his game? I mean, if Colbert interviews me about my next indie game, I can guarantee the hype is off the charts in every possible way, as cool as that might be.

I figure the game will get some patches, some features will get added, the game will go on sale, and I’ll buy it then. Maybe some mods will come out to save the game, too; that’ show Bethesda works, right? :)